How To Use A Proxy Server In Your Browser: Simple Guide + Bonus

Looking how to use a proxy server in your browser or device, but can’t locate the settings?

Found them but aren’t sure what to do next?

We have all been there. Proxy setup might seem complicated at first, but it’s actually pretty easy – with basic knowledge.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to connect proxy server using Google Chrome and other popular browsers and OS models. This guide is for both Windows and Mac users, as well as mentioning all popular web browsers.

How to Use a Proxy Server in Google Chrome

Chrome doesn’t have its own built-in browser proxy settings. Instead, it redirects you to your operating system’s network settings to configure a proxy server.

Here’s how to use proxy in Chrome:

• Inside Chrome, click the three dots in the top-right corner.
• Select Settings from the dropdown menu.

• Go to System down in the left Settings sidebar.

• Click Open your computer’s proxy settings. From here, Chrome will send you to your OS network settings – Chrome itself doesn’t allow to set up a proxy.

Don’t worry! The process is easy, but differs slightly for Windows and Mac. So let’s show you the procedures for both Windows and Mac proxies.

How to Add Proxy On Windows

Chrome will take Windows users to the Windows Proxy settings page. It can also be easily found by typing in Proxy in the settings search bar.

Once you find it, it’s basically just entering the credentials in Manual setup section.

Here’s how to set up a web proxy in Windows proxy settings:

1. Scroll down to the Manual proxy setup section
2. Turn on the Use a proxy server switch
3. In the Address field, enter proxy server address. It can be either a long number or text – in my case it’s geo.floppydata.com.
4. In the Port field, enter port number (usually a number, it’s 10080 for me)
5. Click Save at the bottom of the page to apply your proxy settings.

You have now enabled the proxy. Notice the login and password are not required here – once you open your browser, it will ask for proxy username and password. These should come with your proxies. Fill in the credentials to connect the proxy to the browser.

How To Add Proxy On MacOS

If you’re on a Mac, Chrome will take you to the macOS proxy settings. Mac proxies screen needs you to know which protocol your proxies are on. Choose HTTP if you’re not sure.

Follow these steps to configure your Mac proxies:

1. Turn on the protocol you want to use (typically Web proxy (HTTP) or Secure web proxy (HTTPS)).
2. The protocol reveals credential fields – fill in the Server, Port, Login and Password.
3. Click OK and then Apply to save your proxy configuration.

How To Check If The Proxy Is Working?

After configuring the proxy on your browser, it’s important to check whether it’s working fine or not to avoid the risk of browsing with a false sense of privacy that your IP is masked.

Now, to do that, you can simply:

1. Search “what is my IP” or “IP location” on your browser and click on any of the top 5 results that come up.
2. If your proxy is working, the checker website will show you’re in a new location.
3. If your proxy is not working, you will see your real IP address and location.

Example: whatismyipaddress.com

How To Use A Proxy Server In Other Popular Browsers

Now that we know how to add a proxy in Chrome, let’s take a look at how you can configure it in other popular browsers.

1. Mozilla Firefox

Unlike Chrome, Mozilla Firefox has its own proxy settings. It doesn’t redirect you to your operating system’s network configuration.

To access Firefox proxy settings, follow these steps:

• Open main menu in the top right and select Settings.
• Go all the way down to Network Settings section, and click Settings there. This is the Firefox proxy settings.

• Once you’re in Connection Settings window, select Manual proxy option, then enter your proxy credentials next to needed protocol. The protocol is most likely HTTP – go for this one if you don’t know which one you got. That’s it!

This guide also works for all Firefox based browsers (they’re also called forks) – for example Zen Browser, Pale Moon, Librewolf or Mullvad browser.

2. Chromium-Based Browsers (Brave, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, etc)

If you want to connect proxy to browser using Chromium-based browsers like Brave, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Vivaldi – the proxy setup process is identical to Google Chrome. They don’t support custom proxy setup, offering a built-in VPN at best.

All of these will send you to your system’s proxy settings to configure proxy on a system level. You can see the previous section “Google Chrome” for the steps.

3. Safari

Safari also doesn’t offer custom proxy setup.

While it isn’t a Chromium browser, it’ll still take you to macOS proxy settings, from which you’ll follow the same steps we covered earlier in the section “How to add proxy on MacOS”.

The Other Way: Use a Proxy Browser Extension

If you’re figuring out how to add proxy to Chrome browser on the go without being taken to system settings, you can use browser extensions. Some proxy providers provide browser extensions for easy proxy configuration – talk to your provider about best recommendations.

You can find a proxy browser extension in your browser store by looking up keywords like “proxy switcher” or “proxy manager“.

We will not recommend any specific proxy extensions here simply because they are not always reliable or trustworthy. It’s best to use Gologin, a designated proxy browser solution we will show right below.

Pros of Proxy Extensions:

• They free you from having to navigate through multiple settings pages every time you need to connect proxy to browser.
• Whenever you need to use a proxy, you can just toggle your proxy on and off instantly from your browser toolbar.
• If you use multiple proxies for different tasks, extensions let you swap between them in seconds.

Cons of Proxy Extensions:

• Not every extension works with every browser, and some may not support the proxy protocol you need.
• Extensions come from third-party developers, and not all of them are trustworthy. Some track your browsing data or sell it to advertisers, which defeats the whole purpose of using a proxy.
• Many proxy extensions haven’t been updated in years and offer clunky interfaces with limited features.
• Some proxy providers offer their own extensions, but they only work with that company’s proxies. If you want flexibility, this limits your options.

Bonus: Easy All-in-One Proxy Browser Solution

All the methods we discussed have one major limitation.

If you’re juggling multiple businesses or client accounts, say, several Instagram profiles, and you need different proxies for each one, the standard browsers we discussed can’t help you out. They can only handle one proxy at a time (at best).

For situations like this, it’s best to try out Gologin – designated browser built for professional multiple accounts business.

With Gologin, you can create separate browser profiles and assign a unique proxy to each browser profile. Proxies are on board and assigned with one click.

How To Create a Browser Profile With Proxy In Gologin:

1. Click + icon on top left to create a new browser profile. Websites take these profiles as completely separate laptops.
2. Here you also need to add a proxy IP (see guide below). Click on country name in Location column. A new clean IP address will assign automatically.
3. Run the profile: it is a new browser window running under a proxy.
4. Done The session will be saved when you close the window.

Gologin gives 5 free proxies to all users. You can even run a proxy check before launching a profile to make sure your time isn’t wasted.

Get Gologin now and grab 7- free trial to see if it fits your needs – or switch to Forever Free plan (which is actually free forever with 5 free proxies). Enjoy!